Woman sues preschool after son was pushed from indoor slide
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
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In the courts
- A woman has sued a Singapore preschool for negligence after her six-year-old son was pushed from an indoor slide and injured.
- She alleges teachers missed several incidents because they were using mobile phones or talking, and says no safety mats covered the floor.
- The trial opened in the State Courts, where the child’s identity and the preschool’s name remain protected by a gag order.
A woman is suing her son’s preschool for negligence after another child allegedly pushed him from a 75-centimetre-high indoor slide during playtime.
The trial opened in Singapore’s State Courts on Monday. The woman is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and is represented by Goh Choon Wah and Mitchell Leon of Characterist LLC. A gag order protects the identities of the woman and her child, as well as the preschool’s name and address.
really distracted, both looking at their phones at the same time
The woman told the court that teachers in the play area failed to notice several incidents involving her son and another boy. She alleged that the teachers were using their phones or chatting, and said there were no safety mats beneath the slide.
She presented four video clips recorded on July 12, 2024. In one clip, she pointed to a girl standing at the top of the slide and said the teachers, seated farther away, were not supervising her. In another, a different student hit her head against a wall while playing behind the teachers. The woman said the teachers were “really distracted, both looking at their phones at the same time” and noticed the incident only after the girl cried loudly.
pain, pain
The remaining clips showed her son’s interactions with the boy involved in the incident, including a head-on collision. She said her son could be heard saying “pain, pain” afterward, while the teachers were “completely unaware” of what had happened.
completely unaware
The woman said the other boy pushed her son off the slide twice. After the first fall, he got up and tried to climb back onto the slide. The boy, who was already sitting at the top, then pushed him again. The child fell from the top step, used his hand to break the fall and narrowly missed a tricycle being ridden nearby. He then ran to the teachers and showed them his hand. The extent of his injuries was not disclosed in court.
The boy’s parents cried as they watched the footage. The woman said she had prepared notes to track when the play area was supervised and when it was not.
I wanted to have a sense of the overall supervision of the play from the start to the end. I wanted to put things into perspective on when there was supervision and when there was not
About this summary
Originally published by CNA in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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